I think this post makes an interesting point.
Actually, when I originally posted about the Peter Watts incident, the two examples that sprang instantly to mind about people being hassled by the border patrol or immigration were the problems that Fouad and Aki’s friends had. Later, Chelsea reminded me that she’d had a nasty run-in with the US-Canada border patrol, which makes for an awful story all on its own.
Fouad is British (if I’m remembering correctly), though he’s of Pakistani descent. So you can imagine the sort of hassle he would be subject to any time he’s trying to go anywhere near the United States. Aki’s friends are Japanese, and a rough-looking bunch if you don’t know them, so also very obviously not American and not white. I suppose the thing to consider here is if you find it all that surprising that they were hassled, as opposed to Chelsea (though if you’re young and college-aged, that opens up the whole “must be doing drugs” can of worms, I’m sure) or Dr. Watts. When I heard these various stories, I was shocked and outraged each time – but hearing it from Aki’s friends or from Fouad didn’t surprise me. Because I think I’ve gotten to the point that, even if it’s still appalling and it still pisses me off, people who made the awful mistake of being brown and wanting to visit a foreign country getting hassled in airports or at border crossings is par for the course.
And that is really, really not okay, from any angle you approach it.